Gnawing at Earmarks
President George W. Bush is telling the Democrats to give up the porkbarrel.
In his State of the Union — as previously spoken in one of his radio adresses — Mr. Bush says voters sent a message last November about fiscal discipline: “And one of the best ways we can impose more discipline on federal spending is by addressing the problem of earmarks.”
Thanks. Thank you, Mr. President. For noticing the problem of hog-wild spending on legislators’ pet projects. The flagrant abuse of the taxpayers’ wallets on this count.
You’ve given occasional lip service to the problem during these past years of mostly Republican control of Congress. But you’ve wielded the veto pen, what? Maybe once in your administration so far?
So I’m wondering: Does this latest commitment of yours have any teeth?
Of course, not everyone agrees with the idea of gnawing out the earmarks from legislation. Apparently some members of Congress are telling reporters that they “know their districts better than federal bureaucrats, so they are better at directing spending.”
Gee, I guess a congressman knows whom he needs to bribe better than some congressman in some other district. But if we give his formulation the benefit of the doubt, it really proves too much, doesn’t it?
Maybe the people who earn their incomes know their own priorities about how their own money should be spent even better than congressman piling on pork to get re-elected. Just a thought.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
